Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/04/23/sony_xperia_z2/

Sony Xperia Z2: 4K vid, great audio, waterproof ... Oh, and you can make a phone call

Decent phone calls and signal quality ... what a FEATURE

By David Phelan

Posted in Personal Tech, 23rd April 2014 09:01 GMT

Review What do you want in a smartphone? A premium build quality? A high-resolution display that looks the business whether you’re watching a movie or reading a book?

Maybe it’s a decent camera so you can ditch your compact snapper.

As phones become better at doing all these things, manufacturers struggle to make their products stand out.

The latest premium phone to hit the market is Sony’s Xperia Z2. Like many phones recently, it’s a direct and gentle upgrade of an existing phone: the Xperia Z1, released last autumn, which looks pretty similar to this new phone. Both have a solid metal frame and glass front and back.

That metal-framed design with glass back may not match the high-end sparkle of the HTC One (M8), but it’s pretty sharp.

The Xperia Z2

The chamfered edges make it feel a little more palm-friendly than a phone this size deserves to be. The phone measures 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2mm, so there are plenty of hands which will find this phone just too hefty. Still, at least it’s slimmer than last year’s model and a touch lighter at 163g, even though the screen size has increased.

It’s among the biggest, heaviest of the mainstream premium phones (obviously there are phablets which are even more cumbersome). But it still feels manageable – just – and comes across as well-built and reliable rather than super-slim. It’s more high-end than the plastic-backed Samsung Galaxy S5. If you like a little monolith in your pocket, the Z2 is for you.

The screen, now 5.2 inches, is the first really noticeable upgrade over last year. This is the first IPS screen Sony has used and this particular kind of LCD has great viewing angles.

Sony has cribbed some knowledge from its TV boffins to create what’s called Live Colour LED. Instead of the over-saturated colours found in some OLED screens, this gives more faithful, realistic hues. It’s worlds away from the previous phone’s screen quality.

Not that last year the screen was terrible but it was outgunned by some rivals. This time, it’s very nearly on a par with the stunning display on the Samsung Galaxy S5 and it looks more natural than Samsung’s does. The screen is such an important part of a phone, it’s a nightmare when it’s not quite good enough. This one is. The touchscreen is responsive and fast, by the way, so touching it is as pleasant as looking at it.

Basic snapper's the same... but get a load of the video camera

The Xperia's cam hole

Many of this phone’s components are the same as last year. The camera is a 20.7MP model, again. Still, many of the Xperia Z1’s specs were significantly more high-end than most of the competition, so there was no need to change the camera. It had components from advanced Sony compact cameras, and was capable of delivering excellent results.

Last time and this, there was minimal shutter lag, responsive focus and lighting measurements so that a simple interface delivered sophisticated results. Since a camera is a crucial part of a phone for many, Sony was wise to make this a priority. But it’s not all the same this time around. The Z2 has a big improvement in the phone’s video-recording capabilities.

Like the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Xperia Z2 can shoot in 4K resolution, which as you know is four times that of HD and unusable on all but the most expensive of TVs. Sony calls it future-proofing your memories, a clever phrase to get us to buy into a technology we can’t really use yet. Still, if we don’t mislay the footage before buying a new-fangled 4K telly, the future really will be bright (though perhaps not orange).

In practice, the video looks sumptuous and pristine on this phone, even though the screen can’t do the full resolution justice. And let’s be grateful the phone has a microSD card slot, one that can use cards of up to 128GB capacity, because that 4K footage takes up a lot of space, and quickly. The camera interface is straightforward but still manages to be sophisticated and subtle with extra features.

The video looks fantastic, but the small screen can't handle 4K's full glory (click to enlarge)

Take Info-Eye, which uses augmented reality to overlay information on top of what the camera sees. If you’re looking at a landmark building, and the phone recognises it, it will download information to the phone’s display. You need a decent data connection for this. And other effects include dinosaurs and volcanoes which are superimposed on still and moving images. Nuts, but fun. If a camera’s not your priority, the Sony Xperia Z2 has more to offer.

Info-Eye, overlays info on top of what the camera sees – nifty trick... if you've got access to Wi-Fi

The sound's not outstanding - but hey, you can listen underwater

The handset sounds OK, though not a patch on the twin speakers of the HTC One (M8). This is a waterproof phone, so the possibility of outstanding audio through speakers that won’t let in water is reduced. But where it really takes off is when you connect the supplied headphones. These are in-ear cans but they have noise-cancelling built in, so you can keep the rest of the world at bay.

Toss the Dr Dre cans – you might want to try out the in-ear ones that come with the handset

Sony has worked on useful ways to interact with the phone. So, just like many of the Nokia Lumia range and others, you can wake the screen by double-tapping it. It’s a more intimate feeling than reaching up to the side of the phone to press the precision-milled power button.

You can also use the phone with gloves on, another real-world benefit, especially in countries with proper winters.

Iconic (click to enlarge – note the alerts
at the top of the screen)

And the top edge of the screen contains a light notification so that you know when a text, email or other item has arrived. You can turn this off and it’ll just work to warn you if the battery is on its last legs. Being a Sony, it has an emphasis on entertainment. So there are icons for Walkman, Movies and PlayStation, to guide you to music, film and games.

The interface is understated and elegant, unlike the populist, even brash, icons of Samsung’s interface. Sony is going for a more demure look, even down to the tiny sparkles which grow under your touch as you swipe to unlock the display. The whole thing is understated but easy to get to like.

This is a waterproof phone – something of a Sony speciality until Samsung started getting in on the act. It means you need to be sure to close the flaps covering the charging socket and memory card, of course, which can be a minor nuisance. But it means you won’t worry if you’re caught in a rain shower or drop the handset while reading emails in the bath.

Waterproofing is a great extra, and one that should be on every phone and gadget. Of course, the phone’s screen doesn’t respond to touch when it’s underwater, but the fact that water doesn’t kill it is a real bonus.

Raindrops keep falling on my EDGE

Battery life has been reasonably good on Sony devices for a while now, and the Stamina power saving mode continues to eke out extra time between charges, especially if you set commands so that activities are automatically curtailed when the power hits certain points. In any event, the phone will safely get you to the end of a day without worries.

The Antutu benchmark

And performance is another area of improvement. There’s 3GB of RAM and a speedy Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 processor. This is a quad-core 2.3GHz model and works very well to ensure there’s little or no slowdown, no matter what you throw at it. AnTuTu benchmarks show it to be a proficiently effective handset, beaten by two bigger-screened phones, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

Oh, and phone calls and signal quality are both very good on this handset (which should go without saying, but still doesn’t).

Verdict

Did you like last year’s Sony Xperia Z1 smartphone? It looked handsome, felt good and performed well, with a great camera and impressive waterproof features. The Xperia Z2 is all that the Z1 was but better. The screen is a big improvement, the performance is increased, the headphones now have great noise-cancelling capabilities. This is an excellent phone. Of course, if you didn’t like last year’s model, you may want to look elsewhere. ®